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I managed to get an hour’s flying during my lunch break the other day. The wind was completely non-existent and I nearly didn’t bother trying to fly. However, I hooked the old Prism Ozone onto a short line set and had a brilliant time with it!

I have been trying to master two new tricks for a while. I have no idea what they are called but I got on reasonably well with them in no wind. The first trick involves putting the kite into a fade and then floating the fade by walking backwards. The Ozone loved this trick! The second trick involves flying to the top of the window, putting the kite into a tight spin, letting the lines go slack and then catching the kite as it falls out of the sky. I find this much harder to pull off!

Both tricks are shown in the following video. It’s only three minutes long. It shows lots of floaty axels, a 360, three of the ‘drifting fades’ and one of the ‘helicopter spin catches’.

I would welcome your views on what these tricks are actually called. Your advice on how I can do them more consistently would also be appreciated!

On Christmas Eve 2006, Katie performed alongside video footage of Cassidy singing Over The Rainbow on BBC One's "Duet Impossible".

Eva Marie Cassidy (February 2, 1963 – November 2, 1996)was an American vocalist, known for her interpretations of jazz, blues, folk, gospel, country and pop classics. In 1992 she released her first album, The Other Side, a set of duets with go-go musician Chuck Brown, followed by a live solo album, Live at Blues Alley in 1996. Cassidy was virtually unknown outside her native Washington, DC when she died of melanoma in 1996.

Katie Melua (born 16 September 1984) is a Georgian/British singer, songwriter and musician. She was born in Georgia, but moved to Northern Ireland at the age of eight and then relocatedto England at the age of 14. Melua is signed to the small Dramatico record label, under the management of songwriter Mike Batt,and made her musical debut in 2003. In 2006, she was the United Kingdom's biggest-selling female artist and Europe's highest selling European female artist.

Try walking backwards instead of the walk/run forwards with your hands to the side. Lock the kite in a horizontal ground pass and start walking backwards with your arms extended in front of you. One of the keys is to take long steps instead of lots of short ones. Nice long, smooth steps backwards.

With your arms extended you have the option to sweep back if you have to.

Try to trust that the kite is going to make it all the way around even when it seems like it can't go any slower.

I think that you have managed to convince me that the Vapor really was an exceptional light wind kite. I have only been flying for 2 to 3 years, but much of that has been in light winds. Besides some SULs I have a Benson Inner Space and an original (pre 2000?) Prism Ozone to play with. The Inner Space is my favourite, simply because it is so little effort to fly in the lightest of winds. And if the wind was really zero, perhaps I could do what you are recommending for walking backwards - just perhaps. But there is usually a little draft say 1/2 to 1mph or a fraction more, and enough eddies that I go a little faster for half the 360 circle and have to turn around away from the kite. Or to put it another way, I have failed in 360s far too often from going too slowly.The Prism Ozone is that little bit less floaty and needs that little bit more speed. So Nigel, I reckon you did pretty well.

Perhaps I need to spend time practicing walking smoothly backwards faster. Wind meter measurements suggest that ~2mph is the current limit before I start tripping up

I think that you have managed to convince me that the Vapor really was an exceptional light wind kite. I have only been flying for 2 to 3 years, but much of that has been in light winds. Besides some SULs I have a Benson Inner Space and an original (pre 2000?) Prism Ozone to play with. The Inner Space is my favourite, simply because it is so little effort to fly in the lightest of winds. And if the wind was really zero, perhaps I could do what you are recommending for walking backwards - just perhaps. But there is usually a little draft say 1/2 to 1mph or a fraction more, and enough eddies that I go a little faster for half the 360 circle and have to turn around away from the kite. Or to put it another way, I have failed in 360s far too often from going too slowly.The Prism Ozone is that little bit less floaty and needs that little bit more speed. So Nigel, I reckon you did pretty well.

Perhaps I need to spend time practicing walking smoothly backwards faster. Wind meter measurements suggest that ~2mph is the current limit before I start tripping up

Peter

In tricky wind conditions, those super slow 360's can be difficult to impossible. Sometimes you'll have to run or do whatever you've got to do get the kite around. Sometimes I abort and try and get back around if it's not too late. A lot of times I run out of energy and have to give up.

With that said, try to lock in the horizontal ground pass and concentrate on a nice smooth walk backwards. Try to trust that the kite is going to make it around, even when it seems impossible. The same thing goes for a 360 side slide, you've just got to be smooth and stick with it. I seem to pay more attention to walking backwards than I do to the kite. Once the kite is locked in, you should only need minor corrections to keep it going.

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